Stretchable Plush Doll

ABSTRACT

A plush toy having a torso joined with arms and legs is made of a stretchable material and includes straps on its hands and feet through which a child can slip his hands and feet to thereby animate the toy with lifelike movement. The stretchable material of the toy enhances this lifelike movement by allowing the limbs of the toy to accommodate a full range of movement for the limbs of the child.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a stuffed toy adapted for lifelikemovement under the direction of a child.

2. Description of the Related Art

Of all the ways that the joy of childhood reveals itself, few are asendearing as the delight of a child in a favorite toy. A good toyprovides winsome memories that will endure long after the child hasoutgrown it. Whether big or small, loud or quiet, for play in the houseor the yard, a good toy does not confine a child's imagination to aconstrained range of possibilities, but gives the child opportunity toenvision as many fanciful worlds as his imagination will permit.

Stuffed toys have long been part of a well-stocked playroom.Traditionally, a stuffed toy came in the form of an animal like a bear,cat, or dog, but nowadays a stuffed toy may also be in the form of afanciful character from movies, comic books, or cartoons. Typically, thestuffed toy is a sewn outer material stuffed with a soft material havinga predetermined form corresponding to the shape of the character oranimal the toy is to assume. Some stuffed toys assume a fixed posturenot amenable to alteration during the normal course of play. Forinstance, a stuffed puppy may be constructed in a seated posture that achild cannot adjust. Other stuffed toys provide a wider range ofmovement because they possess extremities easily manipulated by a childto assume different positions.

Even these more flexible stuffed toys, however, are not as enjoyable toa child as they could be because they are not lifelike enough. A childwho regards such a toy as an imaginary friend will often be disappointedbecause the looseness of the limbs of the toy causes it to assume asplayed posture that lacks vitality. Such loose-limbed stuffed toys aredifficult for young children to manipulate because one hand of a childis fully occupied holding up the toy while the other hand is not enoughto fully animate all the limbs in that coordinated fashion that createsthe appearance of lifelike movement. Because of these limitations achild at best is able to manipulate only one limb of the toy at a time,which usually makes for a disappointing play experience.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a stuffed toy thatenables a child to fully manipulate its limbs in such a way as to mimiclifelike movement.

In a stuffed toy according to the present invention having a torso,arms, and legs, the hands and feet are provided with fastening elements(e.g., elastic straps) that a child can slip over his own hands andfeet. Once the child has strapped the toy onto his own hands and feetand starts to walk, the toy “walks” in tandem with the child, giving thechild a fanciful illusion that the toy has come to life and become acompanion capable of following wherever the child leads.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that thedrawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as adefinition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should bemade to the appended claims. It should be further understood that thedrawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwiseindicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate thestructures and procedures described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a complete view of an exemplary stuffed toy provided withstraps on its hands and feet.

FIG. 2 shows a close up view of a hand of the exemplary stuffed toy andof the strap attached thereto.

FIG. 3 shows a close up view of a foot of the exemplary stuffed toy andof the strap attached thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary stuffed toy 10 according to the presentinvention. The toy 10 of FIG. 1 is depicted as an anthropomorphizedfrog, but the toy 10 according to the present invention can embody anyother animal, such as a bear, cat, dog, etc. Alternatively, the toy 10according to the present invention may embody more fanciful characterssuch as monsters or comic book super heroes. The height of the toy 10 isnot limited to any specific range, but may be of that height that wouldallow a child of approximately three to six years in age to see over thetop of the head of the toy 10 when walking with the toy 10. Forinstance, the toy 10 may be from 24 to 36 inches in height.

The toy 10 includes a torso 15, arms 12, and legs 18. Hands 14 and feet20 are respectively equipped with fastening elements, for example,elastic straps 16 and 22. The toy 10 may be manufactured using anytextiles and stuffing materials appropriate for plush toys andsufficient to impart a degree of stretchability to the limbs. In theexemplary toy 10 of FIG. 1, the outer covering of torso 15 is made ofany suitable plush material that provides a textured feel. The outercovering of arms 12 and legs 18 may be made of any suitable elasticmaterial, such as, for example, a synthetic fiber like spandex. Such amaterial provides a degree of elasticity that allows the limbs tostretch while being manipulated by the child via straps 16, 22. Toenhance this elasticity, a certain amount of slack is provided to thespandex material of the arms 12 in the shoulder region 11, so that if,for example, the child (with his hand in hand strap 16) raises his arm,the arm 12 of the toy 10 can stretch and preserve a full range of motionto the arm of the child while playing with the toy 10. Once the childreleases the arm 12 or leg 18, the natural elasticity of the stretchablematerial will return the limb to its unstretched dimension.

FIG. 2 shows a close up view of hand 14, provided with hand strap 16.The hands 14 are also provided with Velcro® strips, which imbues the toy15 with a further degree of verisimilitude by giving the illusion thatthe toy 15 is gripping an object (one capable of engaging with Velcro®).

FIG. 3 shows a close up view of the sole of foot 20 provided with footstrap 22. Straps 16 and 20 may be made of any suitably elastic materialthat can accommodate various sizes of children's hands and feet.

A child would use the toy 10 by standing it up, inserting his handsthrough hand straps 16 and his feet through foot straps 20. With the toy10 in effect “standing” on the feet of the child and “holding” hishands, the child could then begin to walk, and as he walks the toy 10would track the movement of the child, giving the illusion that the toy10 is alive and is playing with the child. If the child has the toyfacing him, then the child can pretend he is dancing with the toy 10. Ifthe toy faces away from the child, then the child can take a walk withhis friend.

Because of hand straps 16 and foot straps 22, the child is able tosimultaneously give all the limbs of the toy 10 a lifelike movement thatcreates for the child a deeply immersive play experience. A child withhis hands and feet strapped to the toy 10 in the manner discussed abovecan believe he has assumed the identity of the toy 10. In the case of atoy 10 manufactured to resemble a super hero, the child can pretend thathe is that hero, battling evildoers or rescuing the innocent.

Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed out fundamentalnovel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodimentthereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutionsand changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated, and intheir operation, may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expresslyintended that all combinations of those elements and/or method stepswhich perform substantially the same function in substantially the sameway to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention.Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/ormethod steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosedform or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any otherdisclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a generalmatter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limitedonly as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:
 1. A toy, comprising: a body having a plurality of limbs joinedto a torso; and a plurality of fastening elements, wherein eachfastening element is associated with a respective one of the pluralityof limbs.
 2. The toy according to claim 1, wherein: the plurality oflimbs includes a pair of arms provided with respective hands and a pairof legs provided with respective feet, and each fastening element isjoined to one of the hands or one of the feet.
 3. The toy according toclaim 1, wherein each fastening element is sized to accommodate a handor a foot of a child.
 4. The toy according to claim 1, wherein eachfastening element includes a strap made of an elastic material.
 5. Thetoy according to claim 1, wherein a material of the body includes astretchable material.
 6. The toy according to claim 1, wherein a slackamount of the stretchable material sufficient to permit enhancedelongation of the plurality of limbs is located at a region of the body.7. The toy according to claim 6, wherein the region of the body includesa respective shoulder region between each arm and the torso.
 8. The toyaccording to claim 2, further comprising a Velcro pad attached to atleast one of the hands.
 9. The toy according to claim 5, wherein thestretchable material includes a synthetic fiber.
 10. The toy accordingto claim 9, wherein the synthetic fiber includes spandex.